Sightlines is proud to announce “Sightlines Spoken,” a new public discussion series that will take up timely civic and cultural topics in panel discussions and forums, presented free to the public.
The inaugural “Sightlines Spoken” will be a two-part look at the arts and its relationship to gentrification in East Austin, and beyond. “The Arts & Gentrification in East Austin” will be held Nov. 13 and 15 at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center, 1165 Angelina St.
The first panel discussion is “The Gentrification of East Austin: Place, Culture & the Forces of History” is at 7 p.m. Nov. 13. The second panel discussion is “Artists Respond: Considering Place & Culture” is at 7 p.m. Nov 15.
Both events are free.
“Sightlines Spoken: The Arts & Gentrification in East Austin” is an official event of the 2018 East Austin Studio Tour and is co-presented by Austin Creative Alliance, Big Medium and the Carver Museum.
Lost in the common discussion of the massive shifts that have happened in East Austin, is the arts community’s position in the gentrification process. How are artists and arts organizations complicit in gentrification, even if unintentionally?
What does Austin’s majority-white arts community need to understand about the history of East Austin and the political/economic/social forces which shaped it? Finally how can artists be allies to communities displaced by gentrification? And how can artists incorporate community in their practice?
Nov. 13: “The Gentrification of East Austin: Place, Culture & the Forces of History”
What is the legacy of Austin’s 1928 master plan and its creation of the “Negro District”?What are the social and cultural effects of gentrification and displacement? What is interconnectivity of art, politics, place, and public policy
Moderator: Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, editor-in-chief of Sightlines.
Speakers:
Cary Cordova, Assoc. Professor, American Studies, University of Texas. Author, “The Heart of the Mission: Latino Art and Politics in San Francisco,” Research interests: Latinx cultural production, interconnectivity of art, politics, place, and public policy.
Bamidele Demerson, director, George Washington Carver Museum, Culture & Geneology Center
Eric Tang, Assoc. Professor, African & African Diaspora Studies, University of Texas . Author of the studies “Outlier: The Case of Austin’s Declining African American Population”;”Those Who Left: Austin’s Declining African American Population”; “Those Who Stayed: The Impact of Gentrification on Longstanding Residents of East Austin.”; and ““Are There More Dogs Than Children in East Austin?”
Nov. 15: Artists Respond: Considering Place & Culture
How do artists and cultural organizations work with place and culture? How can artists understand their struggle with affordability vis-a-vis the displacement of East Austin’s communities of color? How can artists be advocates for awareness of Austin’s history of segregation?
Moderator: Michael Anthony Garcia, artist and curator
Speakers:
Fidencio Duran, muralist
Cindy Elizabeth, artist
Nefertitti Jackmon, executive director, Six Square: Austin’s Black Cultural District
This program is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department
